Citation:

Abstract:

This paper addresses the problem of minimum-effortwaypoint-following guidance with/without
arrival angle constraints of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. By utilizing a linearized kinematics
model, the proposed guidance laws are derived as the solutions of a linear quadratic optimal
control problem with an arbitrary number of terminal boundary constraints. Theoretical
analysis reveals that both optimal proportional navigation guidance and trajectory shaping
guidance are special cases of the proposed guidance laws. The key feature of the proposed
algorithms lies in their generic property. For this reason, the guidance laws developed can be
applied to general waypoint-following missions with an arbitrary number of waypoints and
an arbitrary number of arrival angle constraints. Nonlinear numerical simulations clearly
demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed formulations.